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The assault on Eyewitness news photographer Tshepo Lesole by President Zuma's bodyguards is pure power abuse. It is an affront to human rights in the very week that we are celebrating Human Rights Day.

50 years ago on Sunday, the apartheid police force opened fire on peaceful protesters at Sharpeville, killing at least 69 people. It became a symbol of the brutality of the apartheid regime around the world.

What we are witnessing in South Africa today is a gradual reversion back to a police state. It is a state where might is right. It is the opposite of the rights-based constitutional democracy that we fought for.

This brutality must be stopped in its tracks. President Zuma must rein in his bullies.

Last month, when Chumani Maxwele was arrested at gunpoint and detained for gesturing at Zuma's convoy, the Presidency said it had nothing to with them. They said that it was a matter to be taken up with the VIP Protection Services.

President Zuma cannot hide behind this excuse again. He, and no-one else, is accountable for the behaviour of his bodyguards. He must acknowledge what has happened, take responsibility for it and do something about it.

I have today written to President Zuma requesting an urgent meeting to discuss the matter. I want to know what he plans to do to stop this power abuse and I want to share the DA's plans to curtail blue-light bullies in the Western Cape, where we are in government.

We will not tolerate this power abuse where we govern. We don't see why Jacob Zuma should either.